Thornliebank
| Name | Thornliebank | ||
| Type: | Steam merchant | ||
| Tonnage | 5.569 tons | ||
| Completed | 1939 - J. Readhead & Sons Ltd, South Shields | ||
| Owner | Andrew Weir & Co, London | ||
| Homeport | Glasgow | ||
| Date of attack | 29 Nov, 1941 | Nationality:  British | |
| Fate | Sunk by U-43 (Wolfgang Lüth) | ||
| Position | 41.50N, 29.48W - Grid CE 2526 - See location on a map - | ||
| Complement | 75 (75 dead - no survivors) | ||
| Convoy | OS-12 | ||
| Route | Barry - Freetown - Middle East | ||
| Cargo | General cargo and munitions | ||
| History | | ||
| Notes on loss | At 04.11 hours on 29 Nov, 1941, U-43 fired a spread of two stern torpedoes at a ship of convoy OS-12 about 240 miles north-northwest of the Azores. The Thornliebank (Master Sydney Letton) was hit by both torpedoes and blew up in a great explosion. The master, 65 crew members and nine gunners were lost. Debris from the ship fell around the surfaced U-boat and injured the Obersteuermann slightly at the upper arm. The next day, the Germans found an 10cm shell without fuze, which had been blown from the torpedoed ship onto the conning tower over a distance of about 1200 metres. | ||
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